Affiliate marketing Secure affiliation – securing your Gmail account. Part 2
Gmail is a globally popular email service offered by Google. It has been widespread mainly thanks to Android devices, whose users have the application installed by default. One account also allows you to use other services from Google. Additionally, Gmail has become the leading email management tool for businesses. Knowing which mailboxes are used by individual users is necessary, m.in, for marketing agencies that conduct activities involving sending emails. Gmail is particularly sensitive to messages that it considers spam due to its strict security measures.
Popular box
Using Gmail is simply convenient. The modest and minimalist appearance translates into the comfort of using the box. For the creators, it was important to optimize the view and make it easy to manage messages and receive mail. Gmail also gives you a lot of options for keeping your messages organized with filters, sorting, labels or folders. It also provides many personalization options. Gmail has robust spam filters to prevent you from receiving unwanted ads. Not only the browser version is noteworthy, but also the mobile app, installed by default on every Android phone. Just like the browser variant, it offers many possibilities of organization and personalization. Google cares about the security of its users, and any attacks or security holes are eliminated on an ongoing basis.
Finally, the mailbox is diversified by a large number of available add-ons. Users can use, for example, Mailtracker, which allows them to see when a message is read by the recipient. You can also add services that you use to work with your team, such as Slack, Asana, and Trello.
Frequent update
Keeping Gmail up to date gives you access to faster mail, better security, and new features like message blocking and new formatting options. Updates apply not only to mobile apps, but also to browser versions. Companies that release updates to software do so in order to provide fixes for known vulnerabilities. If you are on a desktop browser, open your Google Account, click the three dots in the top right corner -> Help -> About Google Chrome and check for updates. To update the mobile application, go to the store from which it was downloaded (usually Google Play or AppStore) and click “Update”.
If only the “Open” option is shown, it means that the app is already updated to the latest version. It is worth remembering that users who also have an outdated version of the browser itself or the operating system are more exposed to dangers. Then the software may be the target of a hacker attack, so it is worth checking for available updates on an ongoing basis.
Third-party access… application?
To use certain features, you can allow third-party apps and services partial access to your Google Account. Third-party apps and services may request access to m.in of the following Google services:
- Gmail
- Disk
- Calendar
- Photos
- Contacts.
Third-party apps are considered to be apps that have been developed by companies and developers other than Google. For example, a photo editing app may ask for access to Google Photos. Before granting access, it’s a good idea to review the request to find out what information and permissions are in question. Among the different types of access are to learn about your basic profile (name, email address, and profile picture), view and copy data from your Google Account (contacts, photos, or YouTube playlists), and manage your Google Account data (permission to edit, upload, create, and delete data). To check which applications have access to your account, log in to your Google account or directly to Gmail, click on the upper right corner on your photo icon -> Google Account -> Sign-in and security -> Applications that have access to your account -> Application management. Then you will see a list of all applications that have gained access to Gmail, and after clicking on them, you can select the “Block access” option from the menu. After this action, in order to log in to selected applications with a Google account, they would have to be given access again. It is worth blocking those that have been unused for a long time and interfere too much with the user’s privacy, e.g. by requiring access to contacts, displaying an e-mail address or keyboard – then they can read what is written with it, including logins and passwords.
Account recovery… that is?
If a user can’t remember their name, password, or can’t receive verification codes, they can still regain access to their Google Account and services like Gmail. If the problem is your password, go to the account recovery page, answer a few questions to verify that you are the owner of the account, and reset your password by setting a new strong one. In the event that you have forgotten your login email address, please go to a page that requires you to enter the phone number or recovery email address associated with your account, as well as your name. Instructions appear as they happen, and at the end you will see a list of usernames that match your account. It is also worth knowing what to do if you suspect that your account has been taken over. If you can log in, you will need to search your account activity – if you recognize this suspicious activity, click “No, it’s not me”.
You also need to review the devices using your account through the device management panel. If the user does not recognize the device, follow the on-screen security instructions. If you can’t log in, you should first go to the account recovery page. After recognizing suspicious activity, it is worth taking additional security measures – set up two-step verification, contact the bank or the appropriate authority, as well as improve the security of applications and devices. Gmail also allows you to recover a deleted account after the user verifies and answers a few questions.
Gmail is used by many individuals and enterprises. It is a convenient and secure e-mail inbox that provides a number of useful additional functions. However, it is worth taking care of additional security measures that are easy to forget, m.in. by frequently updating the application and the browser itself, as well as checking what other applications have access to the data entered on it.
